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History

The Birth of URC

Tracing its roots all the way back to 1954, Universal Robina Corporation (URC) was first established in the Philippines by Mr. John Gokongwei.

A trader and importer, Mr. John was already a successful entrepreneur back then. Yet he looked beyond his current success and aspired to expand his business even further. Hence, with his savvy business expertise and foresight, he decided to start off his own production and distribution by constructing a corn milling plant to produce glucose and cornstarch – leading to the birth of Universal Corn Products (UCP), the first linchpin of the company that would become the URC we know today.

Armed with eye for the future and great foresight, Mr. John realized that manufacturing commodities while providing steady revenues did not guarantee lasting customer loyalty. With this in mind, he began to diversify by producing and marketing his own brand of consumer foods similar to the multinational companies in the country, such as Nestle and Procter & Gamble – thus conceiving the first ‘local’ MNC borne out of their best practices to shape URC to where it is today.

URC MOMENTOUS MILESTONES

1961:

Consolidated Food Corporation was established and the first locally manufactured coffee blend, “Blend 45” was born.

Blend 45 rose to become the largest-selling coffee brand in the market, even beating out market leaders Café Puro and Nescafe.

The birth of NIPS, a panned chocolate that soon became a staple in every Filipino’s childhood

Other successful snack products were introduced to blaze through the industry and become market leaders even till now, such as Pretzels, Piattos and Maxx

Early 1970s:

Universal Robina Corporation entered the Commodities business through the formation of Continental Milling Corporation for flour milling and production.

Late 1980s:

URC Sugar was born with the acquisition of three sugar mills and refineries

Late 1990s:

URC forged into the plastics business with URC Packaging

Today, URC has carved its niche into the ASEAN region with a strong foothold in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and Vietnam.

URC in Malaysia

URC Snack Foods (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd was first incorporated in 1982 and commercial operation started in 1984. The first product that was produced and sold by URC Malaysia was Jack ‘n Jill Potato Chips. Over the many years of continued success, we have added other brands to our stable: